Many thanks to the following individuals who have posted reviews:
From award winning author Marina Osipova:
A vivid, thrilling memoir –
I’ve been in love with Roeder’s writing since I read We Don’t Talk About That, the first book in her memoir series. After turning the last page of The Flight Into The Unknown, I knew I’d be impatiently waiting for the series finale, Set Sail for Life After 50 she has promised to publish later this year. I could talk at length about her literary talent, about the voice and style her writing carries (it’s brilliant) yet you’ll discover it for yourself from the very first page when you open her books. The emotions her prose evokes! That’s what makes her books unforgettable, that’s what takes the reader on the journey! I lived through every episode of her life; I experienced the feelings she had along the way. I laughed and cried with the author; was upset or infuriated; felt hurt and joy. This is an incredible life story of a person you’ll love and empathize with. I can highly recommend it to all fans of memoirs and just for readers interested in learning about lives of amazing, courageous, and self-motivated people.
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2020
Jul 08, 2020Heide rated it it was amazing
1 highlight – 5 out of 5 stars
Loved the book, I read her first book, too and I just could not stop reading them. So many things reminded me of my childhood, even though I never experienced those “Stolpersteine” in my life.
I admired her throughout these books. So many accomplishments in her life- !
David John rated it it was amazing – 5 out of 5 stars
I read this book after reading Giselle’s previous book ” We Don’t Talk About That” That book reminded me of another similar book The Diary of Anne Frank” read by millions and made into a movie. Like Anne Frank’s Diary, Giselle’s first book is a similar thrilling, frightening and heart wrenching book about her and her family experiencing the horrors of WW 2. Flight into the Unknown picks up from the first book and details Giselle’s experience as an immigrant in Canada. Like her first book this is also one I couldn’t put down. Her life in Canada wasn’t easy as she faces and overcomes many obstacles . The book is fast paced and reads like an adventure novel as Giselle takes the reader along sharing her experiences as she builds a life for herself and her family in Canada. I highly recommend both books.
Email reviews:
Hi! I just finished reading your book. You had quite a life. I am sure no one or very few would follow in those footsteps. You had a lot of accomplishments but a lot of disappointments and heartache. I am looking forward to the (book) after 50 happenings. How did you end up on the Island? Where does your son live now?
I am glad that you have a quiet place to live, no stress – at least not s serious as what you went through most of your life.
Darlene K
I am not a reader. I have never read a book without skipping pages. Yours? I read every word on every page. I couldn’t put it down. I even read the comments you made about the editors. If you were a child, I would spank you for some of the choices you made.
Siegfried H
Giselle, I loved your book. Many of the names and places were so familiar. I had lived in Winnipeg myself for 28 years. I do not know how you coped with everything, what strength of character you showed with all the bad things that occurred. At the same time, you gave a wonderful picture of all the good things that happened. I really identified with your wonder over the appliances in the kitchen when you arrived in Vancouver in 1963. It was the same for me when we arrived from England in 1966 in Fredericton. I could not get over the size of the fridge in the kitchen.
Anne H
I just finished an enjoyable spell of reading Giselle Roeder’s ‘Flight Into the Unknown’ in-between working on episodes of my own present writing project. I found it a very satisfying experience that answered so many questions I (and no doubt many others) was left with after reading Roeder’s first book of memoirs, ‘We Don’t Talk About That.’ I particularly enjoyed the pacing of this second book, keeping my fingers busy swiping (no pleasant turning of real pages in e-books, regrettably) quickly to the next page. I found that I (also immigrated to Canada from Europe, the Netherlands in my case) could identify with much that strikes new immigrants to Canada, such as the wealth of natural spaces, and the other side of that coin, the ‘insane’ distances to go to ‘get anywhere.’ As heart-wrenching as certain episodes of her life in Canada turned out to be, throughout it all, the author has managed to get herself back together each time and ‘get on with life,’ from a core of inner strength that must have resulted from facing and overcoming the agony and hardship of her childhood in war-torn Nazi and post Nazi Germany. Glad the author has now taken us along this much farther on her road of life. I am looking forward to to her next book in which we will be together with her, diving head first into that puzzling third phase of our lifetimes, age fifty and after, when we all hope to glean more wisdom and a better understanding of the how, and perhaps the why of what went on before.
Afiena Kamminga
Hi, Giselle: I did download and read your new book and found it a real page-turner. I read it in two days, and I really enjoyed learning about your experiences when you first came to Canada. It was sad, albeit predictable that your marriage turned out not to endure, but your success in business and the public recognition you received must have been some compensation for that. I hope you write another book to continue your story, but I know it would be a huge commitment of time and energy to take that on again.
Allan James